Comments on: Chop Shop: And So Begins EGR’s Great “Tele Relic” Experiment Of 2008

By: funkysimon » The desirability of age

funkysimon » The desirability of age — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:33:40 +0000

[...] a guitar that has been artificially aged to look like it’s got 60s mojo.) This ranges from slightly discoloured pickguards and hardware with a patina of rust, through to looking like a previous owner had acid sweat and sandpaper [...]

By: DIY Aged Relic Guitar | GuitarPug

DIY Aged Relic Guitar | GuitarPug — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:38:04 +0000

[...] out this multi-part series from Electric Guitar Review, where they attempt to create a faux-vintage guitar through various ageing techniques. In the Grand American Spirit of destruction, experimentation, [...]

By: Relic Your Guitar ? « Marc’s Guitar Blog

Relic Your Guitar ? « Marc’s Guitar Blog — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:51:52 +0000

[...] encore sûr de la réponse à cette question mais ce qui est sûr c’est que je vais suivre l’expérience que mon collègue guitariste-bloggeur Cary est en train de mener sur une Fender [...]

By: dbell

dbell — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:09:49 +0000

I find it real sickening that both Fender and Epiphone/Gibson use ‘wood’ decals on their non-USA models and do not inform the buyer.

By: Chicago Rick

Chicago Rick — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:44:08 +0000

Are you going to keep a running total of how much this whole project costs? That way we will know how much under the 3 grand mark you are. It would be interesting if you were on the verge of setting a trend, forcing Fender and other retro-fitting manufacturers to lower their prices a little. If you inadvertently get a ‘62 Strat reissue in my hands for under a grand, I’ll build you a trophy.

By: Mark Kardwell

Mark Kardwell — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:02:14 +0000

I always wanted to have a crack at this sort of thing myself, so good luck, and lead on!

By: Cary

Cary — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:08:45 +0000

Thanks everybody :)

Rick, the Baja actually does have an Ash body, which is one of the reasons it is so popular even among those who hate the standard MIM stuff… of course that doesn’t guarantee it doesn’t use a decal ;) I guess we’ll find out!

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:59:02 +0000

Obviously…. you know about Relic Deluxe…http://www.relicdeluxe.com/ That wasn’t the site with the forum that scared me away.

I’m in the UK right now, and Google seems to work “differently” than it does back home. When I find the site, I’ll post it here.

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:51:19 +0000

Awesome Cary…. you’ve no doubt seen my thisoldguitar.net Relic Tele in the forums right? http://www.tubefreaks.net/vintage-guitars/78-my-new-tele.html#post384

Looks remarkably like the one you were lusting after…and was less than half the price for that exact same specs…although it does not say “Fender”

One huge word of caution if you haven’t found out already….MIM guitars with wood showing or a sunburst are really just alder wood with a “decal” for the wood print covered by the clear polyurethane finish. Only the true ash models are showing the real wood. There is a forum style website devoted to relic’ing that is really interesting…scared me away from doing it actually….I’ll dig it up.

Are you planning to strip the finish and refinish with nitro?

By: Ovidiu - GuitarFlame.com

Ovidiu - GuitarFlame.com — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:23:55 +0000

I’ll keep an eye on you, man! And try to document the process here, step by step! I was reading some guy’s website a few days ago where he tried a reversed process: bringing his guitar back to a new life! And he started to document it!

By: Mike G

Mike G — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 05:40:39 +0000

Cool project man. I’m wondering though, how do you age the plastic? Do you apply some sort of varnish remover type gook? And how do you sand around the switches without doing damage.

I imagine you’ll show us, I’m looking forward to the mechanics of that part.

By: Tom L

Tom L — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:37:59 +0000

Cary,

Awesome project! In the real world, when I’m not drooling over guitars, I’m the marketing guy for a company that makes autobody repair products (www.evercoat.com). So, if you go a little TOO far with that sandpaper, I can hook you up with some great filler and putty! ;)

By: robert

robert — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:14:48 +0000

This reminds me of buying levi 501’s back in the 80’s.. The first thing we did was rip em, then bleach em… Wallah! Aged 501’s and you where cool!

Good luck with that poly finish.. rent a sand blaster this weekend. Thats what I did :)

By: Cary

Cary — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:45:09 +0000

Hehe… no I would not recommend it IG. Unless you bought it on the cheap and specifically for this purpose! :)

By: IG

IG — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:42:21 +0000

Hhmmmm, I am looking at my Strat right now wondering if I should pull out my sand paper… She’s saying, Nooooooo!

By: Stratoblogster

Stratoblogster — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:33:08 +0000

Dude!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Eddie Rios

Eddie Rios — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:13:07 +0000

Cary,

It doesn’t seem any worse than what I plan to do with my G&L S-500, man.

Eddie

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:48:21 +0000

WHAT!!!

You’re going to ruin a perfectly good Tele… oh wait. You said MIM Tele..

carry on..

;)

By: Cary

Cary — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:51:50 +0000

Hey thanks! Yea, I think it will be a helluva’ lot of fun, even if I completely screw it up :)

I’m not going for a so-called “heavy relic” look… just want to get that poly finish down to something a bit less plasticy and shiny, and age the plastic parts and hardware to take off that “brand spankin’ new” sparkle.

I love the idea of an instrument I don’t have to worry about dinging anymore!

By: dbell

dbell — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:47:31 +0000

dude! mad props for attempting what i have been wanting to do myself for a very longtime. it really does seem like a fun thing to do, huh?
i will be watching this ‘experiment’ closely. i’ve got my fingers crossed for you.